Community Resources

Working together for a stronger community

Community collaboration is at the core of our everyday work. As your public library, we choose to turn outward, create welcoming environments, and live our library's diversity statement. We pursue a vision to empower every voice in our community, a mission to share the information, services, and opportunities that fulfill Oak Park's aspirations and strategic plan. Find examples here of how the library works with local agencies for a stronger community. Have a question or idea about how the library can work with your local organization? Contact a librarian of practice now >

Baby can't wait. "The partnership between the Collaboration and the library is a great example of how we coordinate and leverage our resources."

Help strengthen your child’s ‘mind muscle’. Local families want more resources and support for managing kids’ behavior, addressing children’s social-emotional needs, and helping new parents discover local connections.

Leading change by removing barriers. "This partnership shows how the neutral space of the library can eliminate the borders between schools, businesses, and the community to provide resources to students and families."

Stronger together. "We are stronger together, bringing resources out to the community in a safe, educational environment. We are working toward the same goals to achieve collective impact."

Youth Interventionist Program. Coordinating services to help young people at risk of involvement with gang activity, violence or substance abuse, working closely and collaboratively with local schools.

Look, learn and explore—outside your front door! In an effort to get kids ages 5-13 to stay active and explore their parks and community, the library is distributing Parks Passports, a free summer program featuring an interactive booklet that includes 10 missions to be completed in 10 different park locations.

Let's empower all youth to succeed. "We seek to be a community that meets the diverse developmental needs of all of our kids. This is no easy feat, and we don’t have all of the answers just yet, but we are learning how to coordinate and align our priorities, efforts, and resources."

A new experience model

Joining a handful of public libraries in cities (including Denver, San Francisco, and Washington, DC) with similar social services-based positions, the library created a new Community Resources Team as part of an intentional effort to rethink how we engage with all library patrons, “including those who are vulnerable, marginalized, or at-risk, who use our facilities on a daily basis, and for whom we should be providing services,” said Executive Director David J. Seleb. Read more about this new experience model and six-member team led by Director of Social Services and Safety Robert Simmons (right) and supported by Social Services Specialist Stephen Jackson (left). Goals are to make the library a safer, more welcoming place for all, and to connect patrons to the resources and information they need. More about this new experience model >